


Movie Night

by QueenWithABeeThrone



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Also Clint is a perceptive bugger, Gen, Humor, M/M, Movie Night, Movie Reference, Traditions are established
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-21
Updated: 2012-05-21
Packaged: 2017-11-05 18:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/409654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenWithABeeThrone/pseuds/QueenWithABeeThrone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Steve is introduced to the grand old tradition of Movie Night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, I wrote this up on Tumblr a while ago, as my first contribution to the Avengers fandom. I'm a little pleased with myself for it, though it did need some polishing up, as you can see here.
> 
> So, without further ado...

The first night they all stay in the newly-minted Avengers Tower, Tony cracks a joke about Princess Leia that flies over Steve’s and Thor’s heads, and looks horrified when the former says, with a bemused expression, “Who’s Princess Leia?”

”You’re kidding, right?” he asks. “Please tell me you’re kidding. No, wait, of course you aren’t, of course SHIELD forgot to tell you about _Star Wars_. Those bastards.”

“What is this _Wars of the Star_ that you speak of?” Thor demands, but the billionaire is already standing up and making his way out of the room.  
“What the hell’s going on here?” Clint blearily asks when the door opens and Tony just pushes straight past him, muttering something about Darth Vader and how Fury could give him a run for his money. “Hey, Cap, what’s up with Stark?”

“He said something about _Star Wars_ ,” is the only thing the soldier can offer, and even then, it’s rather useless. And it doesn’t really summarize the shock he gets when Tony brushes past him again, but with one visibly irritated Natasha and one curious Bruce in tow.

“I declare tonight Avengers Movie Night,” he says, his tone grave, as if he’s discussing a matter of national importance. And hey, it kind of is vitally important that Captain America know about _Star Wars_ , screw whatever Natasha says.

It takes a while to work out where they’re going to watch it (“I’ve got a perfectly nice home theater system!” “…do you _want_ Thor to destroy it like he did the perfectly nice fridge?”), but in the end, they all end up on the couch, in front of a reasonably-sized television. Clint is perched on top, Natasha is leaning by the side, Thor is hunched up and holding a gigantic tub of popcorn (like it’s going to last five minutes), Bruce is sitting on the floor, Steve is just sitting in the middle of the couch, and Tony is lazily lounging on it, his legs on Steve’s lap.

They watch, in awe at what is most certainly the best sci-fi movie of all time.

…okay, not really true, because Tony’s mouth can never be silenced, and soon enough Bruce is wryly returning his fellow scientist’s remarks with his own observations. Then, come _A New Hope_ , Natasha deadpans, “Han shot first,” and Clint, just for the sake of it, argues, “No, Greedo did!” and it launches into an all-out snarkfest and Steve just tries his best to keep up.

Thor demolishes his popcorn anyway, shouts, "ANOTHER!" when he's done. And Bruce just chuckles to himself and says, “Six movies,” when Cap asks, cutting off Tony’s “Three!”

“This is payback for the wooden spoons, isn’t it?” the billionaire demands, and Bruce just smiles.

“Maybe,” is his vague reply.

“Darth Vader is totally Luke Skywalker’s dad,” Clint interjects for the fun of it, grinning when Tony swats at him and tells him to shut his mouth and go to spoiler hell.

—

Movie Night soon becomes less about introducing Steve to modern pop culture (because he’s starting to get the hang of it already, even without the Avengers' efforts to help) and more about side bets, dry remarks, bigger buckets of popcorn to satisfy Thor's appetite (and occasionally the Hulk's), and whose turn it is to pop the movie in.

But let’s face it, it’s also about the look on Steve’s face when he comes across a reference from before.

“So that’s why you said Hill was a Regina George,” he says to Clint as they’re watching _Mean Girls_. "Still, it's a little harsh."

The archer nods solemnly, before stuffing his face with a handful of popcorn from Thor's gigantic bucket. "She's a bitch sometimes, and you know it."

—

The first—and only—time a villain dares interrupt Movie Night, it’s on Bruce’s turn.

“He deserved it,” is Tony’s only comment as the whimpering Green Goblin is led away by the police. Standing in the wreckage of what was once a seedy little corner store is the Hulk, who crosses his arms and stomps off.

Everyone’s a little nervous back at the tower when they press “Play” and watch as Spock presses his hand to Kirk’s. Bruce, on his part, at least doesn’t unexpectedly Hulk out, though Steve does sob a little into Natasha’s shoulder. Tony just rolls his eyes and snatches up a handful of Clint's popcorn, much to the archer's dismay.

"That's mine," he hisses.

"My bucket, my popcorn," Tony replies.

“If he existed,” Thor intones, gently patting a sniffling Steve on the back, “Sir Spock would have come to Valhalla, for his bravery.”

—

Then the Winter Soldier happens, and for the next few Movie Nights, Steve and Natasha don’t show up. A day after _Saving Private Ryan_ (Steve would’ve loved it, pity, so the rest save it for later), the rest of the Avengers get their first good look at Bucky Barnes.

“It is good to finally meet the Captain’s shield-brother!” Thor booms, slapping Bucky on the back. "He has spoken about you on many occasions!"

Steve turns a funny little shade of red at that. A lightbulb goes on over Tony's head.

“Hey, hey, easy there, big fella,” Barnes says, and it’s hard to believe that this easygoing, flirty man used to be a brainwashed Soviet assassin who trained Natasha in the art of killing. But really, the less anyone says about that, the better.

“Yeah, nice to meet the guy he can never shut up about— _oh my God,_ is that a metal arm, seriously, _let me see that_ ,” Tony says, and invades the sergeant’s personal space to look at his arm, much to Steve’s visible consternation. “Okay, _no_ , the relay here’s all wrong, and they plugged the wrong wire in there, jeez, the Russians must be _crazy_ , this is impractical, how did you even _survive_ with this?” And before Bucky can answer, continues, “I’m building you a better arm. With rocket launchers.”

“What?!” Steve sputters. “Tony, you can’t—”

“When can I get it?” Bucky asks, and Steve twitches a little.

“Bucky—”

“Rocket launchers. How awesome is that?” He beams at his friend, and it’s then that the undercurrent of sexual tension becomes painfully obvious to everyone else in the room not named Steve Rogers.

Natasha just smiles, and hands Bucky a glass of vodka while Tony’s rambling.

Clint sniggers, and whispers, “You. Me. Shooting range, soon as you get out. Let’s see who’s got the better aim,” in his ear when he gets close. Bucky grins, mutters, "You're going down, pal."

In the end, it’s Bruce who sidles up to him and says, “Try coming to Movie Night. You’ll like it. It's fun.”

—

It actually takes a few Movie Nights before Bucky can come, thanks to SHIELD ("Those bastards," Tony grumbles) and then a lot of rearrangement’s required. Tony is particularly displeased when he finds that Bucky is lazily draped over the couch and Steve’s lap.

“That’s my thing,” he grumbles, but sits down next to Bruce anyway.

“Trust me, the floor’s better,” the other man calmly says.

And the movie, of course, is _Brokeback Mountain_. Clint’s choice, the bastard. He can practically hear him smirking from his perch on top of the couch

A few minutes later, though, and Tony is silently both applauding and hating the archer, because he can hear the sounds of _Captain freaking America_ and _Winter freaking Soldier_ making out with each other besides the sounds of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal making out on the screen. Never mind the sappy whispered love confessions.

—

“So,” Clint says, “whose turn is it?”

“Me,” Natasha replies, and her tone threatens painful death to anyone who dares say otherwise.

They end up watching _Evil Dead_. Thor demolishes all of the popcorn this time, to Clint's dismay, Tony squeaks like a little girl and hugs a startled Bruce (who calms himself down immediately, thank God), Bucky snickers at the billionaire, Steve is enthralled and horrified and kind of wondering if this is a series and if he should watch the rest, Clint is contemplating giving dirt on Natasha (not that it’ll ever happen, he’s too scared to even try collecting any) and Natasha herself just smiles.

It’s a good tradition, all in all.

—

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> "Han shot first" - a little Star Wars controversy over whether Han shot Greedo first, as the remastered versions beg to differ. Sadly I have little knowledge relating to Star Wars, so I'll have to thank Wookieepedia for that little tidbit.


End file.
